smith



(No Model.)

J. GERARD .8: O. P. SMITH.

GARVING PORK.

No. 345,044. Patented July 6, 1886.

P941. Wlounc)v QWA MMAM. i 64:. 56mm;

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN GERARD AND CHARLES F. SMITH, OF NEW BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNORS TO LANDERS, FRARY & CLARK, OF SAME PLACE.

CARVlNG-FORK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 345,044, dated July 6, 1886.

Application filed May 20, 1 886.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN GERARD and CHARLEs F. SMITH, of New Britain, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut,

5 have invented a new lmprovenientin Carving-Forks; and we do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with aecom; panying drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and which said d rawings constitute part of this specification, and represent, iii- Figure 1, a top View; Fig. 2, a side view,

Fig. 3, a side view showing the parts at the [5 joint in section.

This invention relates to an improvement in that class of carvingforks in which the lower end of the guard is bifurcated, one leg extending downward on one side of the shank of the fork and the other leg on the opposite side to form a rest, the guard being pivoted to the shank, and a locking device provided to hold the guard in either the up or down position; and the invention consists in the details of construction, as hereinafter described,

and particularly recited in the claims.

A represents the handle, B the shank, and C the prongs, of the fork, of usual construction. In the back of the shank B is a recess,

a, adapted to receive a helical or other suitable spring, I), and a follower, d.- The upper end of said follower is beveled from the back and front upward to the center, forming two oppositely-inclined bearing-surfaces, and is 5 constructed with a perpendicular slot, 0. The guard is pivoted to the shank in the usual manner, the pivot passing through the slot 6 in the follower. The inside of the guard be tween the legs and over the follower is inclined 4o upward and backward when the guard is in the down position, as seen in Fig. 3, and so that the spring-follower bearing upon that inclined surface forces and holds the guard in the down position; but as the guard is raised 5 the inclined surfacefworks over the end of the follower as a cam until it passes the cen tral point; then the incline reverses with relation to the followcrthat is, downward and backwardand the follower acting upon the incline in that relation forces the guard and :0 holds it in the open position, as seen in broken lines, Fig. 3.

From the foregoing it will be understood that we do not claim, broadly, a carving-fork having a guard hinged thereto,coinbined with a spring-follower adapted to force and hold the guard into either the open or closed position, as such, we are aware, is not new.

lVe claim 1. In a carving-fork, a guard bifurcated to form legs to extend one each side of the shank of the fork and hinged to the shank, the surface of the guard between the legs and over the pivot inclined downward and forward when the guard is in its down position, the shank constructed with a recess beneath said inclined surface on the guard, combined with a spring-follower in said recess, and arranged to bear on said inclined surface on the guard, and over the end of which the said inclined surface will work as the guard is turned from one extreme position to the other, substantially as described, and whereby said guard is forced and held in'eithcr its open or closed position. 7

' 2. In a carving-fork, the shank constructed with a recess, a, combined with a spring, I and follower (l in said recess, said follower constructed with a perpendicular slot, 0, and the bifurcated guard pivoted to the shank over the follower by a pivot passing through the slot in the follower, the surface of the guard over the follower inclined downward and forward when .the guard is in its down position, said follower adapted to bear upon said inclined surface and hold the guard in either its up or down position, substantially as described.

JOHN GERARD. CHARLES F. SMITH.

WVitnesses:

R. L. WEBB,

WM. R. STONE. 

